Trombonist remembered as ‘gentleman’

Leo J. "Lee" O'Connor was an extremely talented musician, performing with many of the legends of the big band era, but he was also known as a "gentleman," according to his sister, Mildred Boyle of Altoona.

"He was very well-liked," Mildred said of her late older brother, an Altoona native. "All the musicians that came for his memorial couldn't get over what a wonderful person he was. He was a gem. Everybody had good things to say about him."

O'Connor, who died at the age of 86 on Oct. 24 in Oceanside, Calif., made a name for himself in the 1940s and '50s during the height of big band music, playing his trombone alongside swing icons such as Benny Goodman and Harry James.

Even at a young age, O'Connor was such a talented trombonist that "his music teacher said he couldn't do anymore for him," Mildred said.

"He was sent to Ebensburg to someone who played in a big band (for further music lessons)," she said. "When he came home, he would go to the third floor of our house and practice, practice, practice."

In 1940, at the age of 16, O'Connor was performing with a group known as the Sunset Serenaders, as well as with the Altoona High School band, when Red Norvo came to Altoona. Norvo, one of jazz's earliest vibraphonists, recruited O'Connor for his band.

"Someone had heard of him, and they told Norvo," said Gene Boyle, O'Connor's brother-in-law. "They called him 'Baby,' because of he was the youngest member of the band, and he had a baby face,"

"My parents allowed him to go on the road with the promise that he would get his diploma," Mildred said.

After performing with Norvo, O'Connor went on tour with legendary comedian and singer Jimmy Durante and then joined Goodman's band right before World War II. He also played in female bandleader Ina Ray Hutton's all-male orchestra.

Shortly after the war began, O'Connor enlisted in the Marine Corps, where he was recruited by Bob Crosby for his band, The Merry Men of the Marines. Crosby was the brother of famous singer Bing Crosby. O'Connor spent his tour of duty entertaining the troops throughout the Pacific theater, joining up with swing bandleader Dick Jurgens after Crosby was discharged.

After the war, legendary bandleader Harry James asked O'Connor to be a member of his band.

O'Connor played lead trombone for many of James' greatest hits and even had a part in a 1950 film titled "I'll Get By," starring June Haver, Gloria DeHaven, William Lundigan and comedian Steve Allen.

"I can remember walking downtown to see him in that movie," Mildred said.

"It wasn't a big part, but he was still in it," Gene said. "For us back here, it was big time."

O'Connor also rejoined Bob Crosby's band in the late 1940s and backed up Bing Crosby on some of his songs.

In 1948, O'Connor married DeDe McGuire of Altoona, and the couple settled down in Los Angeles. He took a job with the Veterans Administration, where he worked for 25 years, but he never stopped performing music.

"He always stuck with it," Gene said, "and he was good."

Though the couple never moved back from California, O'Connor made frequent trips back to his hometown, visiting his family in Altoona every year, Gene said. O'Connor also has a niece, Jeannie Hensler, in Hollidaysburg.

O'Connor had been nominated last year for induction into the Blair County Arts Hall of Fame, according to Blair County Arts Foundation executive director Katherine Shaffer.

A video of O'Connor telling his life story is archived at the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, Calif. The oral history, recorded in 2000, also can be viewed at www.namm.org/library/oral-history/lee-oconnor.

Mirror staff writer Cory Dobrowolsky can be reached at 946-7428.